Case Ref: 21 012 559 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• The Council will remind relevant staff to monitor the implementation of protection plans by care providers resulting from safeguarding operations. It will do this through a monthly audit of sample case records. The Council will provide us with evidence it has done so including one month of audit records.

Case Ref: 21 005 892 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to ensure frontline staff are aware that a homeless application can be made to any department and provide guidance or training as necessary.
• The Council has agreed to share this decision with staff in the relevant departments.
• The Council has agreed to provide evidence of the Council’s changes to policy and practice since the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, including evidence of any training or guidance for staff.

Case Ref: 21 003 804 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Looked after children

• The Council agreed to review the training and guidance it provides to its social workers supporting young people in care to ensure its social workers are clear about: the duty to provide personal advisers for young people before they leave care; and the different responsibilities that personal advisers have, if social workers carry out this role before the council provides a dedicated personal adviser.

Case Ref: 20 011 321 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: COVID-19

• The Council has agreed to provide training/guidance to relevant staff to ensure they provide clear evidence based decisions in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on good administrative practice.

Case Ref: 20 007 776 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Antisocial behaviour

• Provide a reminder to staff to ensure outcomes of investigations following reports of noise and anti-social behaviour are communicated to those complaining.

Case Ref: 20 005 894 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: COVID-19

• The Council agreed that it would consider what lessons it could learn from this complaint as part of an ongoing review of its decision making during the COVID-19 pandemic that would go to its Cabinet for their consideration.

Case Ref: 20 002 314 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has also agreed to remind staff of the importance of requesting a financial assessment in a timely manner.

Case Ref: 19 020 461 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Noise

• The Council has agreed to take steps to make sure that service users and the general public are made aware about the temporary suspension of the Noise Monitoring equipment and priority service for the out of hours telephone line for those calling to report a breach of an abatement notice.
• The Council has agreed to update its Noise Nuisance Policy to reflect that objective evidence, not solely witnessing by a Council Officer, can demonstrate a statutory noisenuisance. The Council should look to provide clarity within its policy on what sort of objective evidence a person could provide when trying to prove a statutory nuisance.
• The Council has agreed to update its Noise Nuisance Policy to provide clarity over the circumstances in which the Council needs additional evidence of a breach of an abatement notice before taking further action.
• The Council has agreed to provide training to its staff about the requirement to take further action on evidence of the breach of an abatement notice.

Case Ref: 19 019 418 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council will remind staff that a significant change of circumstances, including ending elective home education, should prompt consideration of whether a child's EHC plan needs reviewing or re-assessing.
• The Council will remind staff that when they ask a school if they can accept a child on their roster, it must monitor the responses and chase the school where appropriate.

Case Ref: 19 017 561 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Transport

• The Council will remind the staff responsible for making decisions about blue badge eligibility that decision letters should include details of the reasons for refusal.